Would you listen to a man like this?

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Newspapers gave too much space to the cloning story, says our correspondent

IN 1978 The New York Post broke what appeared to be the scoop of the century. It was leaked a copy of a new book by David Rorvik, a respected science writer for Time and The New York Times, and its front page proclaimed: “Child Born Without Mother: He’s the First Human Clone.”

The story was followed up all over the world, provoking outrage and disbelief, and Rorvik’s account of how he helped a childless millionaire named Max to clone an heir became a bestseller. Even though the infant was never produced — to “protect the child from harmful publicity”